Brian Schatz on Education

Reform NCLB: more funding and redefine "success"

No Child Left Behind has two major problems. First, it is sorely under-funded. We must provide adequate funds for this or any education initiative.

Second, we must change the way we define school "success." By imposing arbitrary and unrealistic
standards, NCLB makes it nearly impossible for a public school system to be considered successful.
Under NCLB, if a school does not meet the requirements of adequate yearly progress in any statistical subcategory, then the whole school is deemed a failure and the Federal government can take over the school. This program is deeply flawed--it is
passing schools that should be failing and failing schools that should be passing. We need to measure the right things, measure them fairly, and eliminate the takeover process to keep local education under local control.